This sounds like symptoms of ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Did you test those?

never mind, sorry

First, I would like to say the first couple of posts were my mom trying to help me and now this is actually me. I know more about what is going on so if you have ANY ideas or questions I will be glad to hear/answer them.

Second, I would like to apologize in advance for this long butt post.

--Well, I got him at a fair last year and he's my first fish, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. haha. I know he has to be in a  pond, but he is still a baby (under 10 inches.) he fits nicely in his aquarium and he is the only fish I have so I don't really have an over crowding problem. He will eventually go in a pond, I promise. I just have to build one first and I am moving this summer, so it would be pointless to build it now. I'll just build one at my house that I am purchasing so my parents aren't stuck with a fish they don't want. To be honest I am surprised he survived this long being from a fair and all. I would really like to keep him longer. He's the only pet I've ever had that actually likes to dance with me when I play my music. Anyways, I wonder if his problem isn't swim bladder since he seems to have a buoyancy problem. His nose has turned a little red, but I suspect that is because he gets aggravated and runs into everything every 2-4 hours or so. We have well water and we just turned our water softener back on(the pipes freeze in the winter according to my dad) So, I was wondering if that could be why my ph won't stabilize and if that is the case, how do I harden the water? My fish has also started convulsing his head back and forth like he is having a seizure? or something is making him very uncomfortable.. I put in an all in one treatment from lifeguard, in case it was a gill problem and I added a little amount of aquarium salt to hopefully calm him down a bit so he quits hurting himself.(Even though the pet store is who told me to use it I feel weird about giving a freshwater fish salt so I only out half of what was recommended in his tank.) But I can also see how being constipated or having a swim bladder infection can cause this behavior. It's no fun to be constipated. :/ I cant figure out if he is getting better or worse. One minute he seems fine, but then he cant position himself right and then he gets angry and runs into everything. He also has started staying completely still, and position himself, as best he can, at the bottom of the tank. A couple of times he has scared me because his fins go to his side and his breathing significantly slows down. He does this for a few minutes and then starts the cycle all over again. I am getting so frustrated because I don't know how to help him, I don't want him severely hurting himself, and I don't know how much time I have to help him. 

Summertime is right. There's probably something wrong with your water parameters.  Water quality is often the most important factor.  I'm not sure if you are familiar with cycling a tank.  Since you cleaned out the tank completely, you probably got rid of the beneficial bacteria that kept the fish alive.  I suggest you bring your water to a pet store and have them test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels.  If you have test kit already , please post the results here so we can see.  If you need to buy a test kit, i suggest the AP freshwater master test kit.

When I clean the tank out, I don't was anything away, and I definitely don't use soap. I just give everything a good rinsing in cold water and fill it up with the same temp water as before and put aqua safe in it. I know there is still bacteria in the water that is beneficial to the fish, but another concern I have is I have read about unhealthy bacteria getting trapped in the gravel and making the fish sick when it gets stirred. so I guess my logic was to clean the gravel and change the water.. :/ but like I said. If I have been doing it this way for a year why is he having problems now?

Get a 50 to a 100 gallon tank.

The redness could be septicemea. I was thinking that earlier when you mentioned that his mouth was red. I like the Mardel meds, but I wouldn't use Coppersafe.

Can you buy some bottled water for now? Even better would be if you have a spigot outside that you can get water from, it might not be going thru the softener. Or maybe you can ask your dad to turn off the softener until you move.

I can buy bottled water, but is that ok to use?

I don't have any experience with Lifeguard.

Bottled water isn't the best water for goldfish, but is 1000 time better than softened water. It would be ok to use bottled water short-term when necessary. Make sure they get extra minerals, etc. If you use it, don't use distilled water, use drinking water and still put in your water conditioner.

Well, his red veins and the redness in his nose went away, but despite my best efforts and his strong spirit. The disease won the battle at 9:15pm tonight. R.I.P. Calico. <3